Plate mounting



July 4, 1933. k A, R. TRIST 1,916,777

PLATE mouyrpme Filed Jan. 24 1930 INVENTOR M, ATTORNEY Patented July 4,1933

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR RONALD TRisr, or Lennon, ENGLAND, AssIGNoR, BY MESNEYASSIGNMENTS,

'IO PANTONE CORPORATION, on NEW Y' RK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or DELAWARE PLATE MOUNTING Application filed January 24, 193m serial Nb. 423,048.

. I Thisinvention relates tothe art of printing and in its more specific aspects aims to provide 1 a structure whereby printing plates may be held firmly against displacement.

It is an object of the invention to provide a structure ,of this character 'which will embody relatively few parts, each individually simple and rugged in construction, these parts being capable of manufacture and. assemblage to furnish a mechanism operating over longperiod-s of time with freedom from difliculties.

, A further object' is that of constructing a.

plate-retaining ,mechanism. by means vof which, for example, a number of plates may be applied to the cylinder of a press, such application being achieved in a minimum amount of.time, without it being necessary to exercise that degree of care which has here- '2 tof'ore been essential in setting up the plates -With these and further objects in mind reference had to the attached sheet of drawi11 "illu.stra ting practical embodiments of invention a-Ii jin which:' l

' Figure .1 me face view ofla-cylinder;

Fig. 2 is an'enlarged fragmentary, partly;

sectional view thereof; j v I I Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional vlew taken along the lines of F 1g. 1, and

ly different from that de pictedin Fig. 2;.

In these views, and in the 'subsequentspecification, the invention has been described in connection with printing presses of the'cylinder type, While inmost respectsthein-v vention is primarilyintneded forusein this association, it will be understood that it may ,plates',.undercut as has been indicated at 12 .and to a-degree corresponding to the bevel 11 "which extend throughout nearly one-third instead of substantially one-half of the cyl- Kinder circumference.

Flg. 4 shows a-form of constructlonsl ghtbe employed in connection with various other i forms of imprinting mechanism. Thus, n these views the numeral 5 indicates the body of a cylinder, which preferably carries a fixedring 6 and a shiftable ring 7 upon its main body. This cylinder also carries, adjacent its ends, shiftable rings 8 which lie adjacent to the end flanges 9 of the cylinder. l

In association with the cylinder it is intended that plates 10 are to be employed, these plates being relatively thin and constructed 'in any desirable manner. Preferably, they conform, when removed from the press, substantially to the curvature of the cylinder,

but this need not necessarily be the case, and these plates have edge portions 11- which are beveled. At this time it will be appreciated that while in most instances it is desirable to employ a thin plate, as will hereinafter ap- 1 pear, the invention may be emp loyed as advantageously in connection with relatively thick plates. The rings 6, 7 and 8 are, inthe case of thin of the plates, or these-rings may have their edgesotherwisedisposed with a view to cooperating effectively with the plates; However, it is preferred thatthe construction herewith illustrated be employed andthe diameter of the rings is'such that they preferably extend just short of the plane of the plate face. Projecting between the rings are strips 13 which are similarly formed with a view to cooperating with and retaining-the .endedges of the plates. strips may be shifted if desired, to accommo- Obviously, these date, forexa'mple, upon the cylinder, plates preferred to have the base of these reduced or. grooved portions inclined, as has been ind-icatedat'lhland the under faces of the rings are correspondingly inclined as at 15 so that a tight fit between the cylinder and rings may be assured.

With a view to shifting the rings 8, the flanges 9 may be formed with openings through which pins 16 extend, these pins being secured to or, in fact, forming an integral part of bull rings 17 and lying immediately adjacent the rings 8. Beyond the flange 9 the cylinder may present a threaded portion 18 upon which a collar 19 is mounted which has bearing with the inner ends of the pin 16. Consequently, as the collar is rotated around the relatively coarse thread 18 the pins, to. gether with the rings 17, will be forced inwardly or moved outwardly to correspondingly move, in each instance, the ring 8. i 'l -hus, further advantage achieved by the present invention will be apparent. More particularly, perfect plate registration will 7 be assured. In other words, with a cylinder or other plate receiving surface provided in accordance with the teachings of the present invention it will be feasible for an operator to apply any number of plates thereto with assurance that these plates will occupy not alone proper positions with respect to each other but also with respect to the'plate receiving surface. As aconsequence it is practicable to dispense almost entirely with the plate; and image registering operation as it has been heretofore understood and thus a great amount of time and expense will be saved- In this connection it will be understood that it will be a relatively easy matter to havethe images appear in identical or properly related register positions upon the several plates which would comprise a printing form.

-. WVhile continuous rings may be employed, it is preferred that each of the rings present a split body. and with a view to coupling the end portions of these members they may, as

shown. in Fig. 3, present overlapping portions 20 formed with grooves and ribs 21 which 1nterlock. To prevent displacement of the parts a strip 22.1nay be secured within a recess formed in the ring body and overlapping the end joint thereof so that all difliculties i this connection are avoided.

' In certain instances, after the rings have been released, they might tend to drop, 1. e.

assume positions eccentric with respect to the axis of the cylinder; With a 'view'to overcoming diiiiculties in this connection, springpressed pins 23 or their equivalents may bear against the inner edges of the rings to assure' the maintenance of the latter in positions concentric with respect to the cylinder. Accordingly, with the rings released, they will at all times be in such condition that plates may readily be applied to the cylinder.

Considering the operation of this mechanism it will be understood that with the rings 7 and 8 retracted it will be a very simple matter for an operator to simply position plates upon the cylinder and to have their edges eX- tend below the under-cutportions or the equivalents of the ring 6 and the strips 13. Now, by simply shifting the ring 7 the plates thus positioned'may be locked against movement and thereupon plates may be disposed beyond the ring 7, which plates will be retained in position by shifting the ring 8 inwardly in the manner afore described. Obviously, plates to the left of ring 6, as viewed in Figure 1, may be positioned at any desired time: by simply applying them to the cylinder in the manner aforedescribed and shifting the ring 8 inwardly. The removal of the plates from the cylinder will also'be apparent in that, bysimply reversing the foregoing oper- .ations the plates are free to be movedout of screw-threaded, as at 25, to cooperate with corresponding threads formed in the outer, wall of the groove 23. The inner edge of this collar will bear against the inner ends of the pins in order to againeffect a shifting of the bull rings and the clamping rings in the mannera-fore described. a

.In conclusion it will be understood that numerous changes in construction and res arrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of'the invention asdefined by the claims, and from the foregoing it will be appreciated that,' among others, the objects specifically afore' brought out are accomplished.

Having described my invention, what, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is z i 1. A printing press including, in. combination, a cylinder to receive a plate, a ring dis posed adjacent one of the ends of said cylinder and movable with respect thereto, said ring overlapping an edge portion of said plate to retain the same in association with said cylinder, means for shifting said ring, means cooperating with the further edge of said plate to retain the same against displacement and resilient means associated with said cylinder i der and movable with respect thereto, said ring overlapping an edge portion of said plate to retain the same in association with. said cyl1nder,-means for shifting said ring, means and cooperating with said ring to maintain.

cooperating with the further. edge of said plate to retain the same against displacement,

said ring including a split body presenting 3 cylinder and means for shifting said ring.

into retaining engagement with the edge of a plate and cooperating Wedging surfaces-be, tween said cylinder and ring for limiting the projection of'the latteralong said cylinder.

4. In a printing press, in combination, a

' cylinder, a fixed ring mounted by said cylinder and presenting undercut edge portions to overlap the beveled edge portions of a plate mounted upon said cylinder, a further ring movable along said cylinder and also presenting undercut edge portions for cooperation with a further edge of said plate and an additional ring mounted by said cylinder andbeyond one of said first named rings and adjacent the end edge of the cylinder body, the adjacent edges of said last named ring and the ring in proximity to which it is disposed being also undercut to accommodate between them the edges of a further plate and means for shifting said last named ringalong said cylinder to retain both of said plates between said rings.

5. In a printing press, in combination, a

cylinder, a fixed ring mounted byv said cyle inder and presenting undercut edge portions to overlap the beveled edge portions of a plate mounted upon said cylinder, a further ring movable along said cylinder and also presenting. undercut edge portions for cooperation with a further edge of said plate and an additional ring mounted by said cylinder and beyond one of said first named rings and adjacent the end edge of the cylinder body, the adjacent edges of said last named I ring and the'ring in proximity to, which it is disposed being also undercut to accommodate between them the edges of a further plate,an end flange for said cylinder and being formed with openings, a bull ring interpos'ed between said last named ring and flange and means extending through said openings and cooperating with said bull ring to shift the latter and said last named plate.

retaining ringto secure both plates against displacement with respect to the cylinder.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si nature.

ARTHUR RONALD TfiIsT. 

